A Cold to Remember
by PrInCeSsFBi
Summary: There are some things on this job that Stella hated. Telling the parents of victims their cases had run cold is one of them. Especially when they leave her distraught and confused then taking one of her coworkers hostage. Sick!Danny!


**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI NY**

**a/n: First csi Ny**

**this was inspired by…well nothing in particular…it does remind me of the time my mother gave me cold medication. You know the non drowsy kind. Meaning it's twice as drowsy as the normal kind…anyways**

There are some things on this job that Stella hated. Telling parents of victims their cases had run cold is one of them.

Steven Mattock was the father of a missing thirty year old Caucasian male. The victim, Jacob Mattock had disappeared a month earlier on a new spring night, a night where the snow of New York's winter dripped as it melted into watery mush. By the amount of blood found at the scene there was no question that Jacob was killed.

Jacob had once been the spitting image of his father. With striking blue eyes, messy blonde hair, and a tall muscular frame, the only difference was Jacob's youthfulness and Steven's streaks of gray in his hair along with his dulling eyes.

"So you're giving up on my son?" Steven quietly said as he gazed down at his hands.

"Absolutely not." Stella reassured the father who looked back up at her. "But from the lack of evidence and leads on what happened to Jacob the case has been given to another unit who specialize in this type of case."

Steven nodded once more before taking in a moist breath. "He would have loved this ya know." Stella smiled understandably but Steven explained further. "All this attention. He loved attention. That's why he said he'd never make it as a cop. He knew he wouldn't be patient enough for it. But oh how he loved science too.

"I used to ask him, 'Son, remind me again what you do?' and every time he came up with something different."

Stella bit her lip as the father continued to babble about what his son liked and disliked, what he would have become and what he knew he wouldn't. Until suddenly he stopped. The distraught man's mouth fell open as he gazed upon something. His eyes moving around almost in jittery motion.

Stella watched as Steven followed something behind her, glancing over her shoulder. Though she didn't see anything but Mac and Danny talking, a test result in their hands and a few lab technicians scurrying around like mice, several of them with their noses buried in files.

"Mr. Mattock?" Stella softly interrupted the man's muses. The father seemed to jump before paying his attention back to the woman.

"Um…I…I'm sorry." He sadly apologized. "So…you'll still be looking right? For…For him."

"I know how hard this is, but I can promise you we'll still be looking for you're son." Steven licked his lips before looked up at her.

"Thank you." He said in a hoarse whisper. Placing his hands to his side he turned and walked away letting his head glance behind him once. Stella frowned as she watched him leave, turning to see Danny and Mac parting in separate ways.

* * *

"Are vic was caught in a nylon net." Mac concluded as Danny watched him finish reading the file.

"Which means our suspect doesn't have a motive anymore." Danny added. Turning the younger CSI cleared his throat, coughing before clearing his throat once more.

"You alright?" Mac asked with an eyebrow raised noticing the flush in the young man's cheeks. Danny waved it off as he swallowed trying to sooth his burning throat.

"Yeah, it's fine. Just a cold. It's been going around my building." Nodding Mac looked back down at the file before closing it.

"Okay, well, you finish this up and go home. There's not much more you can do here."

Danny was going to argue but stopped and thought better of it. His bed was way to warm and welcoming this morning to resist. All he wanted to do right now was take a nice nap and come back to the lab refreshed. Nodding he took the file and walked over to trace to drop the file.

* * *

"De…Detective Flack!" A young officer called jogging to catch up with the detective.

"Yeah, what is it Eddie?" Flack tiredly asked as he stopped and turned to the rookie.

"Um…I think…well…I have misplaced…my gun, sir." Eddie stuttered as he squirmed in his place.

"You've got to be kidding me, Eddie!" Flack sighed as his shoulders slumped down in defeat. As if this day couldn't possibly get worse. First the coffee shop down his street ran out of coffee. How that happens he doesn't know. Then he'd been called to four crime scenes in the last two hours and was now leaving to go to his fifth having to skip his lunch.

"I had it in my locker for my lunch break. It makes my girlfriend nervous and when I came back it was gone and…" The officer rambled as his panic began to escalate from the detectives reaction.

"Alright…alright!" Flack stopped him raising a hand for silence. "Get inside, file a report…I'll be right there."

Don glared at the bemused expression on Jennifer Angell's face.

"What?!" Don's irritated tone didn't help lessen the expression on her face. "He's some kid I've been helping out with…"

"Don Flack has a soft side." She laughed with a smirk at his exasperated look as he turned to go back into the building after Eddie.

"He's been following me around like some freakin' puppy."

* * *

Danny pulled his coat closer around his sore throat as he made his way through the crowded sidewalk. Bringing a hand up he coughed loudly causing the Staten Island native to quicken his pace up his street. Climbing the stairs he made his way through the warm welcoming hallways of his apartment building, his hands shaking as he pulled out his keys to unlock his door. Coughing again he cleared his throat before finally the door opened and he hurried on into the small space of his apartment. Dumping his keys off onto the kitchen counter and shrugging his coat off he placed it over his couch and quickly made it to his bedroom.

Sniffing he took out his gun from its holster and placed it in the drawer of his night stand, taking off his shirt afterwards. Changing into a pair of gray old sweats and white Larry **(a/n. I do not approve of the term of wifebeaters so I will continues to call them Larrys)**, Danny grabbed the bottle of cold medication from his medicine cabinet, downing two before he took a swig of water, grimacing as the cold feeling slid through his rough throat.

It was then that his bed could no longer wait. The warm navy colored down comforter was sitting on his mattress anticipating him to come and make a cocoon out of it. His pillows looked ever so soft, softer than they ever had.

But as soon as Danny lifted the blanket, half way into bed a strong knock came from his front door. Growling a few curse words Danny looked down at his bed and clenched his jaw as he moved out of his bedroom to the front door.

The door knocked again and he all but wished he had grabbed his gun to shoot whoever was outside. Throwing the door open he set his face in an agitated glare.

* * *

"Hey Mac, you've seen Danny?" Stella asked as she walked into the small lab.

"I sent him home early." Mac merely said in reply, Stella understanding what it meant.

"Well I found something interesting with our vic." She said handing him a few print outs. "Cameron, didn't know how to swim. She was taking swim lessons at the local Rec center, only been in the program for two weeks."

To this statement Mac raised an eyebrow. "What's a person who doesn't know how to swim, scuba diving?"

"Exactly. It would explain why Danny found the air tank full." Stella continued as she watch Mac leaf through the papers. "And why Grant Howard's prints were all over it."

"Howard could have killed Cameron, doesn't know she couldn't swim, and throws her out near the docks trying to make it look like an accident." Mac thought aloud rubbing a hand under his chin, pen in between his fingers.

"That's still not enough to charge him." Stella reminded Mac who continued to think for a few more moments.

"…But if there's prints on the inside of the suit," Mac pulled on his the edge of his sleeves, his thumb tugging on the fabric from the inside.

"I'll check." Stella nodded moving swiftly from the office and out into the hallway.

* * *

Danny felt his palms sweat as he kept his arms raised as the barrel of the gun was about three centimeters from his nose.

* * *

Keeping a calm face Don watched as Eddie nervously filled in the blanks of his forms.

"Are you sure you didn't leave it at the restaurant? One of the cars?!" Flack asked once more but Eddie just shook his head.

"I'm positive. I took it off and put it on the top self of my locker."

"Well it's not like it up and left, Eddie. You've had to have put it somewhere." Flack argued. He needed a cup of coffee and fast or Don knew he wouldn't be able to keep his patience much longer. Maybe he could run by Danny's and make himself a cup, but then again Messer was sick. With Flack's luck of the day he'd probably get pneumonia or something like that from Danny's germs.

Frowning Don looked down as his phone began to vibrate. He didn't recognize the number but he answered anyways.

* * *

The soft taps on the door caused Steven to look up. Placing a blanket over Danny's shivering body he made his way out of the bedroom and to the door. Opening it an old aged woman stared up at him, her wrinkles on her face pinching together as she frowned looking around.

"Yes?" Steven politely asked smiling down at her. She was dressed in a light pink sweater, a long colorful skirt reaching to her ankles, tennis shoes covering her small feet. In her hands was a small white covered pot, pearls around her neck to match and her pepper colored hair held neatly on her head.

"Is Danny here?"

Danny could vaguely make out the voices of his neighbor, Ms. McDermott, and Steven, knowing now was his chance to make his situation known but remembered Steven's unstable mind. He might hurt the older grandmother of four.

But Danny also couldn't bring himself to create the effort. At the moment his mouth tasted like cotton, his head pounding from the pressure in his skull, and his body was so cold he relished in the heat from the radiator. With frustration Danny pulled on the handcuffs which only created a sharp rattle of metal that seemed louder than it should have been. Bring up his legs he pulled his feet underneath the blanket that was already warm from where Steven had been sitting on it.

He heard Steven and Ms. McDermott laugh and soon his front door closed. Sniffing he attempted to keep his eyes open but again that battle was nearly lost as they slowly dropped, his head following shortly. If he could move right now he would get one of his pillows off the bed but seeing as how his hand was still handcuffed to his radiator that wasn't going to happen.

A cop on cold medication wasn't a good combination, Danny decided.

Soon Steven appeared again with a tray, a steaming bowl in the middle along with a bottle of cold medication, a class of water, and a box of crackers.

"Your neighbor, Jacob, Ms. McDermott, brought you some of her homemade chicken noodle soup." Steven placed the tray down in front of Danny who longingly looked at the tray, attempting to muffle his growling stomach. "She's a very nice woman, son."

"I'm not hungry." Danny's voice was dry and hoarse causing Steven's face to pucker in worry. Reaching out he attempted to feel Danny's forehead but the young CSI shoved his hand away. Steven gave a look of hurt but set his mouth in a grim line.

"I'll go make you some tea."

* * *

"Mac, we got a problem." Don came running into the lab out of breath. Mac and Stella looked up at the young detective who was clenching his fists, one wrapped around his phone. "I got this call from one of Danny's neighbors, Aretha McDermott."

"What about it?" Mac's stomach seemed to twist suddenly at the look of panic on Don's face.

"Apparently, she stopped by his place to leave some soup or something," Don quickly pulled out his notebook and read from it. "And she reported a strange man answered the door, claiming to be Danny's father, saying that Danny was in bed."

"Flack…"

"But from what she could see Danny's be was empty." Don continued.

Mac frowned as he lifted the phone from the cradle and dialed Danny's number as he turned away from them.

"Mac, you don't think…" Stella began but Mac turned and put the phone down.

"It's his voice mail." Mac quickly gathered his things together as he holstered his gun. "Danny's father died two years ago."

* * *

"There we are. Oh, Jacob your phone rang." Steven walked in placing the cup of tea on the tray. He held out his hand, Danny's phone in it, and Danny stared at it before looking back up at him.

"It said it was Louie?" There was a question in Steven's statement as Danny took the phone slowly looking down at it again.

_Four missed calls._

"My brother." Danny tiredly answered sniffing as he pinched the bridge of his nose, the cold medication still taking its affect. Steven seemed to think for a moment as he sat back down on Danny's bed, setting the gun down onto the mattress. Danny cringed as he felt the invasion of space kick in as his captor sat on _his _bed and answered_ his _door.

"Oh that's right." The epiphany clearly on the elder man's face. "That young friend of yours. You're close, right?"

Danny sat confused for a moment as the man continued to ramble laughing to himself.

"Is he the one that moved down the corner when you were fifteen or so? You've grown so much. You know you used to fit right here." Steven held up his palm and beamed at Danny again who squirmed uncomfortable. He was sure even if he wouldn't have been jacked up on cold medication he'd still be confused as he was now.

* * *

"Eddie's missing gun and Danny can't be a coincidence." Flack stated as they stood in locker room.

"Yep, the lock was picked." Stella confirmed as she stood from the young rookie's locker door. "Got a print."

Mac looked down at his phone as it vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out he opened it quickly and explained.

"Danny's texting me."

_911. Guy w/gun at my apart. _

"Did you get a description from the neighbor?" Stella asked turning to Flack who pulled out his notepad again.

"A tall Caucasian male, appearing to be in his late fifties, mid sixties, blonde grayish hair, blue eyes." Stella listened as Flack read from his notes before looking up at Mac.

"Oh no." Stella breathed. Mac gave her the silent question and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Steven Mattock matches that description. Mac, I knew something was off but I just figured he was in shock. I never would have thought…"

"Wait, why does that name sound familiar?" Flack asked aloud.

"It was that scene in the alley between fourth and third." Stella reminded as the realization came into Flacks blue eyes.

"Yeah, yeah DB was never found. The case ran cold right?" To this Stella nodded her curls bouncing slightly as she did so.

"It was finalized today. I just told Mattock four hours ago."

"So what's Mattock got with Danny. He wasn't on the case?" Flack's dark eyebrows scrunching together but Stella shrugged shaking her head as she did so blinking.

"No. From what I can remember that wasn't Danny's shift." Turning to Mac she continued to speak. "Mac, I knew something was off with him earlier but I just passed it off as grief or something. I should have said something."

"It's ok, you couldn't have known. But what we do need to figure out why or how he focused on Danny." Mac quietly tilted his head forward thinking. "Why not either Flack or I? We both were working on that case with you."

"The hallway. When I told him about the case you and Danny were outside talking. He must have spotted Danny then." Stella quickly hypothesized.

"And if he was suffering a mental break he could have connected Danny to the crime." Mac added, one hand on his hip, the other wiping a hand over his face.

"Which mean we could be dealing with a psychological problem." Stella sighed. "There could very well be the possibility that he doesn't even know what he's doing."

"Danny hasn't texted back yet. I need to make sure he's alright before we risk him getting caught in a crossfire."

"I'll get the car." Stella nodded before rushing out, Flack following shortly behind.

* * *

Again Danny's door knocked and Steven stood once more going to answer the door.

Waiting outside was a tall African American man, a small bag in his hands. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and short black trench coat that came to his thighs. The man smiled at Steven and held out his hand.

"Hey, there Steven it's great to see you again." Steven shook his hand politely and laughed.

Danny felt his mouth hang open slightly as he strained his drained senses to hear the voices.

"Well hello there. I'm sorry I don't…"

"Sheldon. We met at Jacob's party last fall." Sheldon nodded understandingly as he took back his hand.

"Ah, that's right yes." Steven smiled leaning against the door still not inviting him in. "How are you?"

"Oh, great. Yeah, it's been a blast finishing medical school. Actually that's why I'm here. Jacob called me earlier today…" Sheldon smiled hoping the man would take the hint.

"Ah, yes, seems our boy got himself a case of the common cold. But you don't need to worry…" Steven began but Sheldon interrupted him again.

"Yeah that's been going around, I actually came to check on him to make sure it's not spreading into pneumonia. I checked on him last night and he was having some issues with his lungs." Steven seemed hesitant as he sighed rubbing a hand over his mouth.

"Well, he's sleeping…"

"It'll only take a minute, I promise." Sheldon's smile stayed firmly in place. Steven nodded in consent as he stepped aside letting the young man in.

"Alright, doctor knows best, I guess." Sheldon laughed at that and swiftly moved to Danny's bedroom.

"Hey there doc." Danny lethargically greeted.

"Just go along with it." Hawkes whispered as he sat his bag down and took off his coat. Placing his hands under Danny's face and feeling his glands he continued to talk to Danny so that Steven who was hovering closely by could listen. "How's the fever?"

"Still shootin'" Danny sighed the clue as Hawkes took out his stethoscope and listened to Danny's chest.

"Did you take anything?"

"Cold meds, one." Hawkes laughed again catching the second clue as Danny let his head fall back against the window sill.

"Tired?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Hawkes nodded as he had Danny bend forward and placed his stethoscope to Danny's back. "Mac and the others are downstairs."

Danny nodded his head and swallowed. "I owe you one Doc."

"Yeah next time I'm gonna charge you." Sheldon teased. Placing the thermometer in Danny's mouth he nodded to himself as he started to gather his things. Taking out the mercury stick from Danny he nodded at the temperature. "Hundred and two, alright, I'll run to the pharmacy and get you a prescription for your lungs and see if I can't get you some aspirin for your fever. Just get some rest and keep drinking fluids. I'll be back later."

"It was good to see you again Steven." Sheldon spoke holding out his hand for the older man who shook it in return.

"Same."

"See ya Jake."

* * *

"Alright Danny said that Steven has a gun on him and to Danny's knowledge there's only one suspect. Steven's got him handcuffed to the radiator through." Hawkes quickly informed placing his bag back inside the car.

"How is he?" Stella questioned as Don moved to radio in the situation. Mac looked up the stories of Danny's apartment building setting his mouth in a grim line.

"His fever is getting higher and he seemed pretty out of it. He said he took some cold medication but other than that he seemed fine." Hawkes shoved his fist into his pockets to protect his fingers from the still cold New York air.

Soon squad cars sped down the streets to the front of the building, street blocks being set up right after, the necessary protocol being preceded. Mac cell rang, the ring nearly dulled out by the rest of the New York sounds.

"Yeah, Adam?" Mac answered his phone on the second ring to hear the lab tech talk furiously over the phone, the clicking of the keyboard evident in the background.

"The prints Stella found on the locker were guy named Steven Mattock. He was the father of a DB found about a month ago, his name was…"  
"Jacob Mattock." Mac finished nodding his head as he turned away.

"Wait…How did you…" Adam asked sounding confused the typing ceasing.

"Stella finalized it this morning. I'll call you later."

"Good luck." Adam merely replied before Mac ended the call with a click.

* * *

Stella, Mac, Flack, Hawkes and some extra uniformed officers stood prepared as Hawkes knocked on the door.

"Steven, its Sheldon." Hawkes blinked waiting for the older man to answer. Stepping back he allowed the others who were armed step in and wait for Steven to answer the door. But instead they were greeted by a loud gasp and a sudden crash. Nodding Don raised a leg and kicked in the door.

"NYPD!" An officer shouted as they rushed in guns raised. "Put down your weapon!" Steven was barely past the bedroom door, having bumped into the side table in his rush to get away, Danny's lap broken on the ground. Opening the window he wrapped a long arm around Danny and fumbled with the key to unlock the handcuffs.

"Steven!" Stella shouted as she aimed her gun to the left to make sure no one else was there to ambush them, clearing the area.

Steven un-handcuffed Danny's hand and proceeded to drag the younger man out the window that Danny had currently been sitting in front of for the time being. Danny groaned as he shivered violently, the wind blew in his direction. Suppressing the urge to cough, he cleared his throat and shook again. All he wanted to do today was sleep!

"Put him down, Mattock." Flack demanded as Steven pulled Danny up.

"You leave my son alone!" Steven yelled causing Danny to wince, the loud voice not helping his head.

"Mr. Mattock!" A strong tone called. Mac stepped through the window onto the fire escape arms raised, his weapon holstered. "Mr. Mattock, I'm Detective Mac Taylor with the New York crime lab."

Steven had a tight grip around Danny's shoulders gun raised at the younger man's head. Danny who had his arms raised in front of him frowned as Mac stepped a little closer only for Steven to step back.

"I work with Stella Bonasera."

"I've never heard of her!" Steven denied tightening his grip around Danny.

"Yes, you have Steven…She's the detective who investigated your son's murder case."

"Wha…What are you talking about? Who are you?!" Steven shouted at Mac who held out his hands. Stella kept her gun aimed in the direction of Steven though the window, Don's grip around his weapon steady.

"You need to let Jacob go." Mac continued. Steven cringed as his eyes began to water. Danny's head felt hollow and he was very close to just jumping off the escape in frustration. At least then he could finally get some sleep.

"Steven, look at Danny's right shoulder." Mac insisted. Steven's eyes traveled down Danny's bicep and he gasped. "Jacob didn't have a tattoo did he, Steven?"

"When did you get that?! Why would you do such a thing?" Steven questioned

"That's the thing, Steven…Jacob _wouldn't _do such a thing."

"Of course he wouldn't…" Steven trailed off, the older man seeming to take a step back and think for a moment his eyes falling to the ground and his grip around Danny loosening.

"Remind me again son, what do you do?" Steven asked tears flowing down his cheeks, his voice quieter. Danny looked over in the direction of Mac who nodded in return.

"I'm a cop… pop." Danny answered softly, his voice hoarse from the cold air. Stella's eyes darted to Flack, Steven with his arm still wrapped around Danny, gun to his head, Mac out in the open in front unarmed.

The final Mattock laughed joyfully.

"I knew you'd make buddy." The next sequence was so fast it was almost surreal. Steven raised the gun from Danny's head to placing the barrel under his own chin. Mac lunged forward to stop him and Danny shoved, pushing Steven's arm to the side. The gun sent a loud crack in the air as it shot off. With a thump Danny fell, Mac sprawled over top of him pinning down Steven who was sobbing loudly, allowing Mac to handcuff him. Stella holstered her weapon and jumped through the window and bent down towards Danny who was suddenly awake taking in the situation and moving over to give Mac some space. The older detective looked up at Stella as he rested a hand on Steven's back who sent out a loud anguished cry.

* * *

Stella quietly stepped aside over to Danny who was sitting on the back of the ambulance, blanket covering him as he shivered slightly, looking more alert than before.

"You ok?" She asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, I'll be fine as soon as someone explains what the hell happened?" Danny grumbled pulling the scratchy blanket further around him, feeling kind of self conscious sitting on the street in his pajamas. "What was it, PTSD or something?"

"A man lost his son, Danny." Stella shrugged. "The stress caused him to have a mental emotional break. Somehow he was able to connect you with Jacob and he convinced himself to cling on to that."

Danny took that in for a moment, nodding his head in reply.

"Listen, Danny, do you want me to get you a hotel room…" Stella began. She knew that he wouldn't want to return home so soon and wouldn't be able to until the standard protocol processing was completed.

"Nah, Flack's got a spare room he's lending me." Danny smiled attempting to keep his eyes open once more. Stella realizing he never did get in that nap of his. "Thanks though."

Stella nodded as she could see Danny was fading, his fever mustn't have broken yet. But still. There were some things on this job that Stella hated. Watching a heart broken parent whose child's case had run cold walk away under distress and distraught was one of them.

**a/n: One thing I totally forgot to mention, I couldn't remember what the proper term for someone who thinks they're helping someone but is like doing an entirely different thing for example, steven holding a gun to danny's head or handcuffing danny to the radiator thinking he's helping his son. Whatever I'm rambling now. I completely spaced on what that term is but yeh u get the point. Alright first CSI NY tell me what you think. **


End file.
